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Academic Deans

Introduction

The deans of our College of Arts and Sciences and 8 professional schools lead the charge in creating the type of learning environment that is purposely designed to produce extraordinarily well-prepared professionals.

Jennifer Gerarda Brown, Law

Jennifer Gerarda Brown, JD

Dean, School of Law

Jennifer Gerarda Brown, JD

Dean, School of Law

Dean Jennifer Gerarda Brown earned her bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College in 1982 and her juris doctor from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1985.

Brown has taught at some of the most prestigious law schools in the country, including Yale, Harvard, Georgetown, Emory and the University of Illinois. She joined the Quinnipiac School of Law faculty in 1994 and became a full-time professor in 1996. In 1997, she was named director of Quinnipiac’s Center on Dispute Resolution and served in that position until being named dean of the law school in 2013.

Brown is co-author of the book, “Straightforward: How to Mobilize Heterosexual Support for Gay Rights,” and has contributed to numerous publications on the topics of marriage equality and the theory and practice of negotiation. She previously served as secretary on the board of directors for Freedom to Marry, the former national bipartisan nonprofit dedicated to winning marriage rights for same-gender couples in the United States.

Mark G. Contreras, Communications

Mark G. Contreras, MBA

Dean, School of Communications

Mark Contreras earned his bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Chicago, an MBA from Harvard Business School and completed the Media Management Center program for Advanced Media Executives at Northwestern University. He is a Henry Crown Fellow of the Aspen Institute.

An experienced chief executive officer and media executive with roughly 30 years in the media industry, Contreras most recently served as CEO of Calkins Media, a Pennsylvania-based company, which operated three ABC local affiliates, five daily newspapers and an extensive digital media operation.

Contreras oversaw Calkins’ successful development of a presence on a variety of streaming device platforms including Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV. This OTT presence helped the local media brands extend their brand and also enabled Calkins to serve as an OTT app developer for other leading media companies, foundations and organizations.

Contreras also has extensive experience working in the newspaper industry as senior vice president for Pulitzer Inc., as senior vice president of the E.W. Scripps Company, and as president and publisher of The Times Leader.

He currently serves on the boards of directors of Woodward Communications, GFR Media and Futuro Media.

Mark G. Contreras, MBA

Dean, School of Communications

Anne M. Dichele, Education

Anne M. Dichele, EdM, PhD

Dean, School of Education

Anne M. Dichele, EdM, PhD

Dean, School of Education

Anne Dichele earned her bachelor's degree in elementary education from Northeastern University, her master of education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and her PhD from the University of Connecticut.

Dichele has worked as a public school reading clinician and instructional consultant, taught at the University of Bridgeport, Fairfield University and the University of New Haven, and served as director of academic development at Albertus Magnus College. She joined the Quinnipiac faculty in 1999 and was named director of the Master of Arts in Teaching program for elementary education in 2000. In 2013, Dichele was named full director of the MAT program, overseeing all aspects of the elementary and secondary education program. She was appointed interim dean of the School of Education in 2016 and then dean in 2017.

Dichele is the founder of Side By Side Charter School, one of Connecticut's first state-funded charter schools, where she serves as chairperson of the board of directors. Her scholarship has appeared in numerous journals and publications. Her first book of original poetry, “Ankle Deep and Drowning,” was published in 2015.

Justin Kile, Engineering

Justin Kile, PhD

Dean, School of Engineering

Justin Kile earned his bachelor of science in industrial and manufacturing engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and his master of science and PhD in operations engineering from the University of Michigan.

Kile began teaching industrial engineering at the University of Wisconsin – Platteville in 2005 and served as coordinator for the industrial engineering program from 2009-12. From 2012-13, he served as interim chair of the engineering department at Quinnipiac and as the associate dean of engineering from 2013-16. He was named the founding dean of the School of Engineering in July 2016 and has guided the school to ABET accreditation.

Prior to his academic career, Kile was a practicing engineer with the Graphic Controls Corporation and the Colad Group. He is a senior member of the Institute of Industrial Engineers, has been published in numerous engineering trade journals and has presented his work at national venues such as RosEvaluation and the ASEE Annual Conference.

Justin Kile, PhD

Dean, School of Engineering

Bruce M. Koeppen, Medicine

Bruce M. Koeppen, MD, PhD

Dean, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine

Bruce M. Koeppen, MD, PhD

Dean, Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine

Dr. Bruce Koeppen earned his MD from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine in 1977 and his PhD in physiology from the University of Illinois in 1980. In 1982, he joined the faculty of the University of Connecticut School of Medicine as a professor of medicine and cell biology. As dean of academic affairs at UConn, he oversaw all educational and research programs and was recognized by the board of trustees in 1999 for leading the faculty through a comprehensive curriculum revision.

Koeppen was named founding dean of the Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine in 2010. His scholarship has appeared in numerous medical journals and books, including “Netter’s Atlas of Physiology.” He has earned many prestigious awards including the Alpha Omega Alpha – Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teaching Award from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

He currently serves as a member of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education and as the chair of its accreditation standards committee.

William Kohlhepp, Health Sciences

William Kohlhepp, DHSc, PA-C

Dean, School of Health Sciences

William Kohlhepp received his bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Connecticut in 1974 and graduated from the Rutgers physician assistant program in New Jersey in 1979. He earned his master's in health administration from Quinnipiac in 1997 and his doctorate in health sciences (DHSc) from Nova Southeastern University in 2007.

Kohlhepp began as academic coordinator in Quinnipiac’s physician assistant program in 1996, later becoming associate director of the graduate physician assistant program in 2002 and then the director of undergraduate physician assistant education in 2007. In 2010, he became associate dean of the School of Health Sciences, a position he held for three years. Kohlhepp served briefly as associate vice president for faculty affairs before being named dean of the School of Health Sciences in 2015.

A clinically practicing physician assistant for more than 30 years, Kohlhepp has published numerous articles in the leading journals of the physician assistant profession and contributed scholarship to many textbooks, including “Physician Assistant: A Guide to Clinical Practice.” Kohlhepp also was recognized as Physician Assistant of the Year by the American Academy of Physician Assistants in Occupational Medicine in 2006.

William Kohlhepp, DHS

Dean, School of Health Sciences

Jean W. Lange, Nursing

Jean W. Lange, PhD

Dean, School of Nursing

Jean W. Lange, PhD

Dean, School of Nursing

Jean W. Lange, RN, FAAN, earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from SUNY Binghamton; her master's in nursing from the University of California – Los Angeles; and her PhD from the University of Connecticut.

After 35 years of combined clinical practice and teaching, including time as director of the graduate nursing program at Fairfield University, Lange was appointed founding dean and professor of the Quinnipiac School of Nursing in 2011. In 2013, she oversaw the school’s accreditation for its bachelor’s, master’s and newly created doctoral program by the Collegiate Commission on Nursing Education. In 2015, she helped earn endorsements from the American Holistic Nursing Association for both the baccalaureate and doctoral programs.

Under her leadership, school enrollment has increased 73 percent, while faculty publications, grant applications, presentations and awards have more than tripled. She was instrumental in the launching of several new programs, including doctoral programs in nurse anesthesia, executive leadership and care of populations. Lange co-designed an interdisciplinary model for international studies, which led to the development of two new international programs in Nicaragua and Dublin.

Lisa G. O'Connor, Nursing

Lisa G. O’Connor, MSN, EdD

Incoming dean, School of Nursing

Lisa G. O'Connor earned her diploma in nursing from the Ona Wilcox School of Nursing of Middlesex Hospital: a bachelor’s in nursing, a master’s in nursing education and a doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Hartford.

She has extensive experience in medical surgical and critical-care nursing, along with 20 years in education — including hospital-based education and higher education. O’Connor, who has been associate dean of the School of Nursing since 2015, joined the Quinnipiac community in 2003 as an assistant professor. She served as director and chair of undergraduate nursing programs before ultimately being promoted to associate and full professor. She has served as a faculty senator, as an active member on the university education committee, the university assessment committee, and many other interprofessional committees and work groups.

She received the Outstanding Faculty Award presented by the Student Government Association in 2015. Her leadership at the state level was recognized in 2014 when she received the Nurse Leadership Award from the Connecticut League for Nursing. She will become dean of the School of Nursing on July 1, when Founding Dean Jean Lange retires.

Lisa G. O'Connor, MSN, EdD

Incoming dean, School of Nursing

Matthew L. O'Connor, Business

Matthew L. O’Connor, PhD

Dean, School of Business

Matthew L. O’Connor, PhD

Dean, School of Business

Matthew O’Connor earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of Connecticut. He earned his MBA in finance from the University of Massachusetts and a PhD in finance from Syracuse University.

O’Connor joined Quinnipiac as assistant professor of finance in 1999. He was named chair of the finance department in 2005, a position he held for three years before being named interim dean of the School of Business in 2008. He was named dean in 2009.

O’Connor has overseen the launch of several highly successful degree programs, including the four-year accelerated BS/MBA, the online MBA and the Bachelor of Business Administration. Under his leadership, the School of Business was named to Bloomberg Business Week’s list of the Top 100 Undergraduate Business Programs. The business school’s online graduate programs were ranked 14th in the nation by U.S. News & World Report. During his tenure as dean, graduate business school enrollment has grown from approximately 250 to more than 800 students. He also was instrumental in the development and launch of Quinnipiac’s School of Engineering.

In addition to his duties as dean, O’Connor sits on the board of directors for several organizations, including the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce and ReSET, a nonprofit social enterprise trust.

Robert A. Smart, Arts and Sciences

Robert A. Smart, PhD

Dean, College of Arts and Sciences

Robert Smart earned his bachelor's degree in English and history from the University of Maine, and his master of arts and PhD in comparative literature from the University of Utah.

In four decades of work in higher education, Smart has chaired three English departments, served on the board of trustees at three separate institutions and directed honors programs at two. He also was holder of the Dorothy Bell Chair in Writing for 12 years while at Bradford College. Smart joined Quinnipiac in 2000. After serving as chair of the English department, as well as dean of academics, Smart was named dean of the College of Arts and Sciences in 2014.

Smart serves as director of Irish Studies at Quinnipiac and is a member of the advisory board for the Irish College of the Humanities. He also has been integral in forging many of Quinnipiac’s partnerships abroad, and has been a New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) program evaluator for 20 years, most recently at the American University of Bulgaria.